ChriZ's Review of Alpha and Omega 4
by TheChriZ1995
Summary: A rather lengthy review of the third sequel to Alpha and Omega, one that really came out as a surprise. *Spoiler Alert*


**A/N: Hello, the following is my review of the recently released "Alpha and Omega: The Legend of the Saw Tooth Cave" movie. If you haven't seen it yet then do not read this because it's full of spoilers, unless you want to be spoiled.**

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><p>So as we all know Crest and Lionsgate have been putting out mini sequels to the 2010 movie "Alpha and Omega". It started off with "A Howliday Adventure" where we return to Jasper and meet Kate and Humphrey's three pups. Then in "The Great Wolf Games" we learn about a kind of Olympics that takes place between the packs every couple of years or so. Now we have "The Legend of the Saw Tooth Cave" which introduces us to a legend about a ghost wolf who haunts a region known as Shadow Forest, or so we think... However before I start giving my opinions, let me first go through and tell you the story of this movie.<p>

The movie starts off in the usual way of showing the title of the movie and the companies who have created it, but once those past we enter a dark forest in the middle of the storm. The sound of distant barking can be heard mixed with thunder from above, kind of helps set the tone of the movie. There's a mystery wolf that tucks into cover under some bushes, presumably hiding from the barking that seems to be getting closer. Not much is focused on the wolf as they run off as fast as they appeared, and what we're left with is a pair of glowing eyes under the bush. What is it? Well you'll have to wait because now we head over to the Western Pack.

Turns out it's time for alpha school as Winston and Tony circle around the packs future alphas, including Stinky and Claudette of course. However there's someone extra in the group, Runt. Winston immediately sees this and calls him out, saying that he should be in omega school, which is apparently a thing. Runt is undeterred and states that he wants to learn how to hunt, and is fearless to do so. But his point is ignored when his parents and Lilly appear out of the grass, causing him to run and hide after Kate tells him to come to her. After some jib jab about Runt not listening to Kate and how it can be turned around on Humphrey, it turns out that Lilly is the teacher for omega school. A fitting role for her if you ask me, she tells Runt that they're going to be exploring Shadow Forest for today's lesson.

This quickly gets the attention of not only Runt but Winston and Tony as well. It turns out the forest is haunted and Tony expresses his concerns that he's seen some strange things in there. He even asks if Garth is okay with her taking pups in there, and it turns out that he is gone on an extended hunting trip. Boy doesn't that sound familiar? Just another way of saying "We don't have room for Garth in this movie" if you ask me. Either way Lilly states that he trusts her judgment, Kate however isn't as convinced and asks Humphrey for his opinion. He quickly tells her that it will be fine and that he's going with them, seems like Lilly and Humphrey both do the omega school teaching, makes sense. She then agrees and Runt cheers before the three of them head out to the forest.

Only once we get to the forest there are two new pups along with Runt, who never speak throughout this entire scene nor do we learn who they are. Other than that they are omegas, but that still doesn't rule out the possibility that they could belong to Lilly and Garth. As the group walks Lilly talks about how there are plenty of critters in these woods when a sudden porcupine pops out of nowhere and goes all kung fu on the wolves. Turns out that the porcupine, which we later learn to be named Floyd, isn't too fond of the wolves being in the forest and asks them to leave. But they don't seem to care too much and just walk past him to continue their exploring. Eventually they come across Saw Tooth Cave, which is a cave situated on a tall rocky mountain. The wind strangely picks up and causes leaves to blow around, Humphrey decides that they should leave but Runt sneaks off and climbs a tree to get a better look at the cave. However he ends up coming across the "wolf ghost", who appears as a faint image above the cave. Runt gets scared and falls off the tree, appearing to be frozen in fear.

The wolves head back home and later we see them arrive at the main den, inside they run into Eve, Kate, Winston, Tony, and the pups. Eve asks how the trip was and Humphrey replies that it was fine besides Runt having "A little incident." Kate asks him what he saw but Runt just says it was nothing. Kate's decides that they should arrange a different activity instead of going back into the forest again. But once again Humphrey says it's not such a bad place. Only later on Tony tells the pups and everyone else in the den about his experience at the cave. A flashback starts and we see a young Tony along with two other pups chasing after a squirrel that seeked refuge in the cave. Tony tells the two pups, who are twins named Lyle and Link, to go after it. They do so but a sudden gust of wind makes them change their mind which makes Tony climb up instead. Once reaching the top he looks around the cave when suddenly the wolf spirit appears and scares him, causing him to run back out of the cave.

Everyone in the den besides Winston seems a little creeped out by the story, and an already uneasy Kate tells Humphrey that they should get going. He agrees and after they and the pups say goodbye they leave the den. Some time passes by and now Kate and Humphrey are lying together awake in a den watching their pups sleep. It's at this point that we start to learn that they are both realizing that their pups are growing up faster than they thought, and being typical loving parents the thought worries them, especially Kate. They both fall asleep but with the sound of the music being distorted in a creepy way the movie transitions into Runts dreams. Everything has a purple hue and like earlier in the day Runt is up in the same tree, telling himself not to be afraid. Once again the sprit appears and Runt looks down into the cave to see a pair of glowing eyes in the silhouette of a wolf. The nightmare startles him away and with a yell wakes up his brother and sister who ask if he's okay. Apparently Kate and Humphrey are heavy sleepers because they don't wake up at all during this. Runt is now determined to head back into the forest and asks his siblings if they want to go with him.

They agree and in the morning they leave the den on their way to the forest, telling their parents that they were going to the river. This is sort of a half-lie according to Stinky, considering there is a river by the cave. The scene changes and now the pups are walking through the start of the forest when they come across two female porcupines. Their names are never stated but according to the credits their Freida and Fran, and boy do they come off kind of mean. Though it's understandable for reasons that are learned later in the movie, they don't want wolves coming into the forest. Runt intervenes as a fight was about to begin and tells his brother and sister to follow him. They leave the two porcupines and find the cave, deciding to all climb to the top at once to see what's up there, but they don't get far. The spirit appears with a gust of wind causing the pups to turn tail and run away, only they don't know what way the exit is so they split up leaving Runt on his own for a bit.

Claudette comes back saying she found the exit but Stinky is nowhere to be found, and his sudden yell makes them realize he's in trouble. Not knowing where he is Runt climbs a tree to better locate his brother; he doesn't see him but upon getting a closer look at the cave there is a dull white wolf in the entrance. The spirt appears alongside it and causes Runt to realize that the spirit is protecting the wolf. This wolf helps out by pointing out where Stinky is. Runt jumps down and he and Claudette both come to his aid as he is stuck on a cliff above a rushing river. They pull him out of danger with a stick and were immediately whisked away to Kate and Humphrey's den, who are both giving stern looks at their pups.

Kate, upon realizing that they had lied to her and Humphrey, states that they should stay away from that forest and just play games near the den. The pups don't know what kind of games so Kate suggest they play something called "Howl", only pups realizes what she really means by that. They decide against it but she still insists that they howl every hour so they can keep track of where they are. Only her point is ruined when Claudette asks "What's next, a leash?" Which I have to say was kind of funny. Humphrey steps in and says Kate is just trying to keep them safe, and from getting into any bad situations. But once again it comes back to bite the parents as the pups stated that they also got into a lot of bad situations in the past, causing Kate and Humphrey to both look at each other and smile nervously knowing their pups were right.

Meanwhile outside the den it turns out Lyle and Link are still apart of the pack only their not too fond about how omegas and pups have been going into the forest freely when it was previously off limits. However Tony states to them that it was against his wishes and that the forest was still a dangerous place, but after he leaves the two brothers decide to venture inside the forest anyway.

Some time passes by and it appears Kate and Humphrey allowed their pups to go back outside and wander around. But that idea is short lived as we see them both following close behind trying not to be seen by them. Only the pups already know their being followed and decide to call them out about it, at first they ignore it and say that their not following them and that their also going out for a walk. Which makes Kate decide that they all should go as a family, but the pups decide against it, saying it was time to explore places on their own. This hits home with them both but they understood and told them have fun and to send them a bowl every now and then. Kate seems kind of down about what their pups said but Humphrey then says that he has an idea.

And who's the two characters we can't go one movie without? That's right Marcel and Paddy, yay!... Although I personally don't have any problems with them both but everyone else does for some reason. Humphrey goes to visit them at the side of a small pond and convinces the two too keep an eye on the pups and make sure they don't get into trouble. They agree, but also tell Humphrey that he and Kate should start learning how to let them go, because it won't be long until their grown up.

Back with the pups we find them wandering through the woods as Marcel and Paddy watch over head, but just like with Kate and Humphrey it doesn't take them long to realize that they are being followed. They come up with a plan to split up, causing Paddy to follow Stinky and Marcel to follow Claudette and Runt. After some running around Runt sneaks off from his siblings and back into Shadow Forest, this time around he's determined to speak to this wolf he saw. He finds the wolf, who's eyes end up being the reason for the glowing, and thanks them for finding Stinky the other day. He asks if he can come up but they say no, their voice hinting that their female. But Runt decides to go up anyway, letting his curiosity get the better of him as usual.

He makes it to the top and the spirit appears behind him, and this time he isn't afraid stating that he once fought a bear that was scarier. Though the ghost begins to roar causing him to go back on his words before being pulled into the cave by the wolf seen earlier. It turns out that when Runt said something about Rabbit Poo Mountain; it was of relation to her since she asks if he's been there. He asks for her name but all she said after that is that he should come back tomorrow, and for some reason he decides not to push any further all of a sudden, so he turns and leaves.

Now we head back to Lyle and Link as they enter the forest and come across Freida and Fran who give the wolves the same treatment the pups got earlier. The brothers think their kind of cute in the gloomy light which causes the porcupines to jump at them in an attempt to scare them out of the forest. But instead it leads them to the cave, and they begin to head up the mountain to see what's in the cave but of course the spirit appears. Causing them to run away out of fright and straight to Winston and Tony, they tell the pack and the leaders about what they saw and saying how right Tony was. However the pack only laughs at their claim thinking it was just some made up story.

Later that night the brothers decide that if they can chase the ghost out of the forest they will be heroes and be the ones who claim the forest for their pack instead of the omegas. However first they are going to need more wolves to go with them and while they convince a few of the pack members to join them Runt enters the scene. Seeing that the pup has been in the forest they ask him what he has seen in the forest, but the only thing they get out of him is that he's only seen "something strange by the river" and nothing else. He gets up and leaves to head back to his den but then realizes that he should go warn the wolf that his pack is coming after her.

He runs into the forest yet again and makes his way to the cave to find the wolf, stating that he needs to tell her something. This is where we learn that the wolfs name is Daria and that she is blind, I was actually kind of surprised by this but then she tells Runt about her backstory and why she needs him to guide her to Rabbit Poo Mountain. Wow does that sound korny...

Anyway we enter a flash back to find a young Daria in her old pack with her mother; however her blindness is an issue. The pack leader decides that the pup needs to die since it's just another mouth to feed. But before he can do the job her mother snatches her and runs away with wolves on her tail, and suddenly the intro to this movie all makes sense as we see Daria's mother hide her in the bushes before running off to keep the pack from finding her. This is when Floyd finds the pup and has her follow him to the cave that she lives in today. Talk about a rough and dark backstory, especially for a kid's movie.

Once her story is done there is the sound of distant barking coming from Lyle and Link along with the wolves who decided to come with them. In a sense of urgency Runt decides that he will lead her along with Floyd, who is also in the cave, to Rabbit Poo Mountain. Ugh... Couldn't you have picked a cooler sounding name Crest? However before they can't go anywhere until they take care of Lyle and Link, which wasn't such a big problem to begin with because once they pushed past the spirit they got chased out of the cave by the porcupine sisters. Glad to see that the Western Pack has some strong alphas!

Meanwhile it's still night time as we head back to Kate and Humphrey's den where they still haven't noticed Runts disappearance. However Humphrey wakes up after dreaming about a waterfall, which is due to the fact that he needs to pee, so he begins to leave the den to do so. But he looks to his side and with a gasp realizes that Runts gone, he turns around and decides to wake Kate up to tell her, though when she wakes up she has something... different on her mind. As Humphrey nods his head over to where Runt was, Kate gets the wrong idea and thinks he was suggesting some "fun" considering it was the full moon tonight. And as the situation gets more awkward and funny with Kate getting all flirty Humphrey finally gets her to look over and see that Runt's missing. She snaps out of it and asks where he went but Humphrey doesn't know so they both ran out of the den, leaving Lilly to watch over Claudette and Stinky back in the den.

Okay hold on. Did I seriously just see that right? I understand the fun of hiding adult humor in kid's movies but holy crap that was blunt and out of the blue. But I shouldn't be surprised since the first movie was just as suggestive as this in some areas. Either way I found this part to be funny and surprising considering I thought they were steering away from stuff like this in these mini films. Who knew that all it took was a few nods from Humphrey and no words in the middle of the night to get Kate's motor running... Alright let's move on before this gets more awkward!

Runt is leading Daria out of the forest when suddenly bushes and branches move to block their path. It turns out that the forest doesn't want them to leave, and considering Floyd has "no comment" about it leads me to believe he's behind it somehow. Runt however sees a way to go over by jumping across a small ravine, which works out well besides that fact that Daria is blind and can't get across easily. Runt and Floyd push her to jump but she resists until Floyd quills her back legs causing her to jump from the reaction. She makes it across and the three run off to Rabbit Poo Mountain.

Back with Kate and Humphrey, we find them running through Shadow Forest before coming to a stop when they find the porcupine sisters. Kate asks them if they have seen Runt but the sisters decide to play it as a game and say that he's on a mission. She continues to ask questions, but they won't say anything further. This causes her to get angry and unleash her "Eve" side, which is just as scary as you think it is. But the sisters are undeterred by her threat and decide to annoy her by saying that now they know where she got her "obnoxious personality." Humphrey decides he's had enough as well and states a hard hitting point that they "have quills and no one wants to touch you." Which it's surprising to hear something like that from him, and it doesn't end there because he jumps at them demanding that they tell them where their son is.

This scene isn't over yet and I'm already impressed and surprised at how even Humphrey can lash out under stress. The point finally gets across to the sisters but they say that Runt isn't a pup and that he is a fully grown wolf who is helping a friend of theirs. Kate and Humphrey's faces during those lines are just priceless! Kate softens up and says that they both want to help their son but the sisters won't agree until they beg for it. Kate of course refuses to do anything as 'low' as that and says "I will never." But the sound of whimpering comes from beside her as she turns to see Humphrey begging, much to the delight of the porcupines.

And as I laugh from how I expected such a thing from him the movie moves on to Runt, Daria, and Floyd as they make their way along a road. However the walking is starting to become too much on them and Floyd collapses on a wooden bridge upon feeling how warm it is. Runt urges him to get up before he's road kill but he tells him to get him some leaves cause his blood sugar is low, which apparently porcupines have and know about. So Runt goes to find some berries while leaving the others on the bridge, such a great idea huh? As you would suspect a truck comes along and causes Daria to panic and attempt to get off the road, Runt comes running back to the rescue after seeing the headlights through the trees. When it seems their done for, Runt pushes Daria out of the way and they both land safely on the side of the road. Being that it was a high up truck Floyd is unscathed as it passes over him. So far this seems to be the only predictable part of this film, isn't that a surprise!

So the sun comes up and the three are continuing down the road when suddenly we see Kate and Humphrey sneaking up behind them. Runt is talking about how his dad knows all the shortcuts, which is ironic considering he's right behind him and caught up with him using those very shortcuts. Humphrey replies to his comment causing them all to spin around. Runt is surprised to see his parents and is scared by their presence because of what he's done. However Kate and Humphrey only smile as they say they're here to help him. A heartwarming moment as they push onward to Rabbit Poo Mountain, and that name just killed the moment...

And in the length of one transition they make it and see Daria's old pack. Kate decides to lead her down while the others wait until their done. Everything seems okay as they both approach the pack and introduce themselves while Kate looks for who could possibly be Daria's mother. Meanwhile the pack leader notices the visitors and decides to confront them, Runt notices this and urges his dad to do something but he refuses. Kate notices and decides to just leave but the leader continues to follow. Runt decides to take action and runs down to stop him with Humphrey chasing after him trying to get him to stop. But he makes it and decides to distract the leader from following Kate and Daria, which works and continues to do so once Humphrey catches up playing as the typical awkward father "come on let's go son" role.

While this happens a female wolf runs up to Kate and Daria and tells them to wait, they turn around and the wolf asks if her name is Daria. Daria's is reluctant to say so but the wolf says it's okay and gives her the news that her mother never made it back from that day she ran off to hide her. Daria is actually glad to hear about her mother's fate after being left in the dark for so long. The she wolf, named in the credits as Lois, says that the rules in the pack are still the same and that they should leave. They finish up their conversation just in time for Humphrey and Runt's distraction to finish up and the two run off to join up with the others.

It seems that conflict has been avoided however as they start going back towards Shadow Forest Daria stops; claiming to hear three wolves running up to them. She's right because three shadows come out of the fog, appearing to be the pack leader and two other alphas. Floyd and Kate suggest that they should start running but Daria turns tail and confronts the wolves, wanting to know what really happened to her mother. But all the leader does is signal his two wolves to attack. Wait... Are they seriously going to have Kate defend against three wolves? Because there's no way that would work out realistically. However as the wolves near and you expect Kate to tackle them down we instead see Humphrey make the first move on one wolf with Kate taking down the other.

Before you know it we have a proper fight scene that may not be very long but was well done and includes Humphrey fighting alongside Kate. There has been a lot of surprising things in this movie so far but nothing beats seeing Humphrey actually fighting, seems like Kate actually has been teaching him a few moves. While the fighting goes on Runt gets Daria to follow him towards to forest saying that it will protect her. The leader sees this and chases after them trying to get to Daria. Kate and Humphrey take care of the other wolves; no of course they don't kill them, and follow in the direction Runt went. As the suspense builds the spirit finally appears and swoops down towards the pack leader. As Daria jumps to escape danger the leader comes across the sprit which roars at him, the sound of thunder and yelling is heard as Kate, Humphrey and Floyd approach. The camera then moves to show that the leader is no more than leaves in the wind; it appears that the spirit might have consumed him. Either way that was the second death in this movie, pretty impressive considering the fact that this is still a kid's movie.

So the worst seems to be over as time passes by to reveal Winston and Eve following the porcupine sisters as they give the leaders a tour of Shadow Forest. Kate, Humphrey, Runt, Daria, and Floyd approach before them and Daria is introduced to them by Runt as he says that she's been living in Saw Tooth Cave. Tony along with Lyle and Link also appear beside Winston and Eve as the mystery is debunked and explained. Even the spirit, which Runt states was to protect Daria. Runt convinces Winston and the others that if they don't accept her into their pack they will continue to be haunted by this spirit and with some further encouragement from Kate they all agree.

The agreement causes the clouds and wind to suddenly vanish as the sun begins to shine for the first time in Shadow Forest. It seems to be the end of this movie but Kate and Humphrey then remind Runt that he still has to face a punishment for leaving the den in the middle of the night. And what kind of punishment is that you ask? Licks! Wait what... Yup his punishment it to be licked by his parents which makes sense because most older kids don't like the love dovey affection from their parents. Even if it sounds weird this is still a cute and heartwarming scene between Kate and Humphrey and how they handle parenting. So the movie comes to a close with all the wolves heading home to the Western Pack as the sun begins to set. A truly wonderful ending to a movie that was a real eye opener!

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><p>So what did I think of it? Well let's look at it in parts shall we.<p>

**Story**

The story to this movie is surprisingly original and wasn't very predictable unlike the past two sequels. It really was an interesting idea they had for this, which is surprising considering that back when it was announced with the release of A&O 2 I thought it was going to be weak. The idea of a wolf spirit that protects a blind wolf is something I've never heard of before, however there is one relation I see. If you've ever played the video game "Beyond: Two Souls" then you can immediately make the connection. I loved the game and seeing something nearly similar to it in Alpha and Omega made it all the better. I'm surprised at how much they used death in this too, normally kid's movies are full of happy but it seems Richard Rich is back to his darker ways of his past films.

Bottom line is that the writer and director did a great job on this one after the shaky past sequels.

**Animation**

The visuals to this film are the best I've seen out of the sequels, it's so good that I would even say that it competes with the first film, and that's saying something. The gloomy colors fit well with the movies tone and there wasn't cringe worthy movements all over the place. It was fluid and the only mistakes I could see we're the occasional cloud backgrounds that stayed in place as the camera moved around a scene. But it wasn't as noticeable as it was in A&O 3. I'm glad that they finally took the time to do proper animation; all of the previous sequels should have been done in this quality.

**Characters**

Where do I begin, all the new characters were interesting, especially Daria who got a surprising amount of backstory that wasn't all rainbows and butterflies. She had plenty of screen time for her character to develop fully, making the part where we learn that her mother actually died nearly tear jerking for those with soft sides. You could feel sympathy for the wolf, something you couldn't really do with past new characters to the series.

Additionally we have a healthy dose of the original characters in this movie. The only ones we don't see are Garth and the omega brothers, but I'm okay with that. Also each returning character actually plays a part in the story instead of just being there in a scene. We even get further character development with Kate, Humphrey, Lilly, Tony, and Runt. By the end of the movie it's obvious that Runt is starting to mature, and you could say the same for his siblings.

Then there's Kate and Humphrey, who get far more screen time as a couple then in the past films. Throughout the course of the entire film it becomes apparent that they are reaching that final hard part of parenthood. The time when your kin start to grow up and become independent, you can tell that they're both saddened and worried by this as their pups are getting closer to that age. Along with this we see some new sides in them, especially Humphrey. From lashing out to find his son, to even fighting alongside his mate. He has really changed from his old omega days in the first movie, and it's a great change that still fits his character well. I always enjoy seeing Kate and Humphrey interact as a couple in these films and even more so in this movie alone.

**Music**

Yes the original Chris Bacon score is used in this movie just like all the rest, however this time it's been remixed in various spots. It actually fits well with the movie and I'm glad that time was spent changing it up.

**Favorite Part**

It's truly hard to pick a favorite part to this movie as it was all so perfect, but it would have to be the part where Kate and Humphrey encounter the porcupine sisters. There so much surprise and comedy here that it's hard not to laugh a little when you see Humphrey begging at the end. You also see Kate and Humphrey get mad, which is entirely new out of the sequels and even the first movie. Some other parts I enjoyed were when Kate and Humphrey follow their pups, when Kate gets the 'wrong idea', and when we see Humphrey actually fight. Still can't believe that included that second one in this movie, haha.

**Disliked Parts**

I know I've said this movie is perfect, but there are still some parts not as well received. Such as various glitches that were few and far between, things like the clouds moving with the camera or the one spot where Runt walks in place for a second. Also when Runt says "It's protecting her" I'm pretty sure that is not the same actor's voice. Finally the young model of Tony is just a reskin of Shakey, but I should already expect things like this.

**Bottom Line**

If you're going to watch a sequel to the movie Alpha and Omega, then let it be this one. I would never recommend anyone to watch these sequels but this one actually makes me want to do so. So go do so if you've read this without seeing it, it really is worth your time if you loved the original. I; like so many fans were starting to lose faith in Crest Animation when it came to the sequels but now I can say faith has been restored after this. Great job to everyone who contributed, on the odd chance that anyone who did is actually reading this. This movie came as a surprise by its greatness and when I first watched it I couldn't stop saying "damn this good."

After an okay A&O 2 and a just plain bad A&O 3, A&O 4 is what I hope to be a turning point for the series. I say that because this movie isn't the last in the series, a fifth one named "Family Vacation" was already stated for spring 2015 back when PGS acquired the international rights to the movie. Of course that can always change but I still hold hope! And that's my thoughts on Alpha and Omega: The Legend of the Saw Tooth Cave, a truly amazing movie that came as a surprise for nearly all A&O fans, this is what the A&O sequels should have been like all along!

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><p><strong>AN: Thank you for reading this rather lengthy review, I never expected it to be this long but I enjoyed writing it. Feel free to comment your thoughts and I'll surly be doing a review for the next movie 'if' it comes out. -ChriZ**


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